Quartet of Happiness by Quartet Quartet of Happiness

A friend of mine, a punk rock drummer once shouted from the stage at an awards show before the band started to play, ‘This is not the music your grandmother listened to.’ He was right. The same words could be applied to the pseudo jazz ensemble Quartet of Happiness and more specifically to their self-titled CD. The difference is my friend’s band for their particular genre went on to win multiple music awards and justifiably so. Quartet Of Happiness is one of those innovative projects that lack merit and it would one would be hard pressed to describe as artistic.

The music is diminished and overshadowed by senseless sound effects completely unrelated to the beat, rhythm, or melody of any of the songs. The first track, "Let The Monster In" reminded me of being trapped in a scene from Jumanji.

Quite frankly, when I am listening to jazz or any music for that matter I do not want to listen to some guy cutting into the middle of the song and doing a mock radio DJ or talk show impersonation. What makes this ploy even worse is the intrusions are not funny or entertaining.

In the too brief interludes where we actually get to hear uninterrupted music the quality of the musicians leaves a lot to be desired. Perhaps the musicians are trying to cover up their deficiencies with the keystone cops versus the Marx Brothers attempt at humor. The saxophones belonging to Rick Stone and Kelly Roberge screech, bassist Kendall Eddy appears lost and I do not think anyone has introduced drummer Austin McMahon to the concept of rhythm.

Those who follow my writing know that usually I do not diss a CD but this one showed up in my mailbox and I was asked to review it so I have.

Save your hard-earned cash and plunk it down on some artists that are serious about their craft. There are plenty of good independent projects out there but this is not one of them.